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The Tar Sands Blockade is a campaign of rolling non-violent direct actions which began in the summer of 2012 in Oklahoma and Texas, aimed at stopping the construction of TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline. Protest tactics from the campaign include standing in the way of machinery, locking oneself to machinery, and tree sits in construction zones. The term Tar Sands Blockade also refers to the body of individuals organizing the campaign, a coalition of environmental activists and landowners affected by the pipeline project.

Motivations for opposing the Keystone XL pipeline project vary among members of the Tar Sands Blockade, but include among them:


 * grievances against TransCanada for its abuse of US eminent domain law in pressuring owners of land in the path of the proposed pipeline to sign contractual agreements to allow pipeline construction;


 * concerns over the safety of the pipeline and the likelihood of spills, especially because of impacts on the environment surrounding the pipeline and the difficulty of cleaning up tar sands oil;


 * concerns over the effect that burning tar sands oil as a fuel would have on climate change, by increasing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

Precursory Events
In the summer of 2011, environmentalist Bill McKibben, climatologist James Hansen, author Naomi Klein and others initiated a call for others to engage in civil disobedience in front of the White House in Washington, DC to bring attention to the Keystone XL pipeline, a 1,700-mile pipeline intended to carry diluted tar sands bitumen from Calgary, Alberta in Canada to refineries in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas. Because the pipeline would cross an international border, presidential approval for it is required. Over a 15-day period which began on Saturday, August 20th, 2011, 1,253 individuals were arrested for standing and sitting in front of the gates of the White House and refusing to move in protest of the pipeline.

About two months later, on November 6th about 12,000 individuals encircled the White House to again bring attention to tar sands and the Keystone XL pipeline. A few days later, President Obama announced that he would delay approval for the Keystone XL citing an inadequate environmental review process.

The late August sit-ins were followed by an invitation from 350.org to take the “Keystone Pledge” which states:

"“I pledge to take bold action to stop the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, and any similar project designed to transport tar sands oil, should it be approved by President Obama's Administration or any other.”"

In July 2012 TransCanada received approval only for the southern portion of the Keystone XL pipeline, a 485-mile pipeline that would run from Cushing, Oklahoma to the Gulf Coast referred to as the “Gulf Coast Project”, and announced that it would begin construction of the pipeline in the coming weeks.

By mid-August, the Tar Sands Blockade had officially begun with protests on August 16th in Cushing, Oklahoma and Lamar County, Texas.

Organizational Structure
The organizational structure of the Tar Sands Blockade is largely unknown due to the sensitive nature of the campaign and, in some cases, fear of legal and/or retaliatory action. Blockaders typically stay anonymous whenever possible and are often referred to using aliases. For example, Maggie Gorry, who engaged in a solo tree-sit for two days on October 2 and 3, was referred to by the alias “Mary Germanati” until her arrest.

The blockade's public spokespersons are Ramsey Sprague and Ron Seifert, the latter who in the fall of 2011 toured the entire proposed path for the pipeline.

Soft and Hard Blockades
A soft blockade is an act of physical obstruction without the aid of tools or instruments, such as sitting, standing, or lying in front of machinery. One example of soft blockades was on October 4th, when Eleanor Fairchild and Daryl Hannah stood in front of and blocked construction machinery in Winnsboro, Texas. Another example was on October 15th, when an individual was arrested for lying down in the way of machinery, also in Winnsboro.

A hard blockade is an act of physical obstruction with the aid of tools or instruments, such as chaining oneself to machinery. There are numerous examples of hard blockades being used as part of the Tar Sands Blockade. For one example, on August 28th in Livingston, Texas, four protesters locked themselves to the the bottom of a truck. On October 24th in Titus County, Texas, Cherri Foytlin chained herself to the gates of a pipeyard.



Tree Sits
The Tar Sands Blockade utilizes tree sits as hard blockades in construction areas. A tree sit on the property of David Daniels in Winnsboro, Texas, that began on September 24th has become the Tar Sands Blockade's most sustained direct action. It consists of a 100ft-wide village of tree sitters elevated 70-80ft off the ground. It began with 6 to 11 tree sitters, but since then some have left. Two individuals claiming to be journalists, Lorenzo Serna and Elizabeth Arce, were arrested after descending to the base of the tree village on October 9th, after having been in the tree village for a week. The next day, two New York Times reporters, Dan Frosch and Brandon Thibodeaux, were handcuffed and briefly detained. According to a State Impact article, “after ten minutes, the two were released, but told they had to leave the property or face arrest. They were on private property at the time at the invitation of the landowner.”

There were only two sitters remaining as of one month since the tree sit began, but on October 25th two more sitters joined, despite that by that time TransCanada workers had already proceeded with construction around the tree village.

Since this tree sit, other tree sits have occurred but they were shorter-lived. On October 2nd lifelong Texan Maggie Gorry climbed up a 40ft pole erected adjacent to the tree village in Winnsboro in response to the efforts by TransCanada workers to continue construction outside of the designated construction easement. Her tree sit delayed construction for two days, and ended when on the evening of October 3rd she descended the pole and was arrested. On October 11th, a lifelong Texan going by the alias “Kevin Redding” began a tree sit at the West End Nature Preserve outside Mt. Vernon, Texas, because TransCanada had announced plans to cut trees there. He quietly left the site days later, though, after TransCanada representatives said they would “under-bore through the preserve, rather than cut trees in the ecologically sensitive area”. Most recently, on October 30th, two women from New England identified as “Lauren” and “Pika” set up tree blockades at a construction site entry point in Sacul, Texas by attaching the platforms they were resting on to construction machinery using rope, effectively making it dangerous for the ropes to be cut. Lauren was picked up with a cherry picker later that evening, but Pika escaped the cherry picker by climbing higher up in the tree. She voluntarily climbed down later that night, however, and was immediately arrested.



Days of Action
The Tar Sands Blockade occasionally runs days of action entailing public invitations for participation and a training period before the action. Their most recent day of action was on October 15th, at the site of the tree village in Winnsboro, Texas, where protesters were engaged in an effort to resupply the tree-sitters with food and other supplies. Some protesters sang and chanted from a distance, whereas others were engaged in a walk-in directly into construction zones. Over 50 participated and about 10 were arrested, one for lying in the path of machinery, some others for locking themselves to machinery.

Solidarity Actions
Solidarity actions organized by supporters of the Tar Sands Blockade in other regions have occurred, sometimes at TransCanada offices. On October 15th, solidarity actions occurred or were said to have occurred in California, Massachusetts, New York, Washington DC and Texas. Protesters in Massachusetts held a mini tree-sit outside a TransCanada office in Westborough. Protesters in Washington, DC rallied outside the American Petroleum Institute. In Denton, Texas, a solidarity rally was held.

On November 5th, dozens of protesters linked arms and blocked the entrance to a TransCanada lobbying firm office in Washington, DC. Four were arrested for engaging in a sit-in inside the building and refusing to leave.



Notable Participants
Notable participants of the Tar Sands Blockade include actress Daryl Hannah and former presidential candidate for the Green Party Jill Stein, both who were arrested near the tree village in Winnsboro. Hannah was arrested on October 4th, along with Texan landowner Eleanor Fairchild for standing in front of machinery. Stein was arrested on October 30th for trespassing while attempting to resupply tree-sitters with food and supplies.

Public Reactions
Public reactions to the Tar Sands Blockade have varied. Zain Shauk writing for My San Antonio gathered commentary about the protests, finding support, criticism and overall contention.

On October 5th, Tar Sands Blockade released an open letter of support signed by 56 groups environmental and activist groups. The letter declares that its signatories support the actions of the Tar Sands Blockade: “there is not an inch of daylight in between us and those blocking construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in Texas. We stand with them as we’ve stood with those fighting mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia, those defending old growth forests in Cascadia and those challenging nuclear power across this country.”

On October 16th, the Dallas Morning News published commentary on the protests by Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, who described the protesters as “a bunch of out-of-state, self-appointed 'eco-anarchists'” who “are simply part of the environmental lunatic fringe that hates the oil and gas industry and is attempting to co-opt their message using the private property rights tradition that Texans hold dear.”  His commentary was met with opposition through opinion blogs and editorials. For example, the editorial board of Statesman said “the Keystone pipeline controversy has attracted environmental activists and celebrities such as actress Daryl Hannah to the fight against it, and, sure, sometimes these activists harm their cause more than they help it. … But lumped in with Patterson’s 'eco-anarchists' are numerous Texas landowners like Fairchild who feel bullied by TransCanada and fear losing access to parts of their land. They say they are defending property rights threatened by a private, foreign company.”



Allegations
The Tar Sands Blockade accuses TransCanada of rough treatment of protesters, such as by running 24-hour floodlights and noisy generators on the tree sitters in Winnsboro. They also accuse TransCanada of operating machinery dangerously close to protesters. Responding to video showing a feller buncher dropping a felled tree where a protester was sitting, TransCanada spokesperson David Dodson said the protesters were “'illegally on the right of way, they are criminally trespassing, they are inserting themselves in harm's way.'” Dodson also said the operator of the feller buncher “stops and he considers what he's doing... He lays [the log] down as gently as he can”.

TransCanada spokesperson Shawn Howard alleges that “the situation has become dangerous. 'In one case, protesters jumped underneath a truck and tied themselves to the rear axle with plastic... They were fortunate that the driver saw them go under — if he had not, it could have had very serious consequences for everyone.'”

On September 25th, in order to arrest protesters Shannon Bebe and Benjamin Franklin who locked their arms with steel sleeves around construction machinery, police were alleged to have utilized pepper spraying, tasering, and administering chokeholds at the request of TransCanada officials. In response, on October 1st, Tar Sands Blockade issued a “Letter of Supporters on Police Brutality” endorsed by various groups, condemning “brutal treatment of peaceful protesters”.

Legal Actions Against the Blockade
In October, temporary restraining orders filed by TransCanada were issued to participants of the Tar Sands Blockade by state district court judges in Wood and Franklin counties in Texas. The restraining orders named 25 protesters and organizations such as Rising Tide North America and Rising Tide North Texas in addition to Tar Sands Blockade, referring to them as “eco-terrorists”. Described as a “SLAPP” (strategic lawsuit against public participation), the orders “prohibit protesters from interfering with, preventing or obstructing construction of the pipeline being built across private property in the two counties”.

The lawsuit identifies, among the protesters, 6 “John and Jane Does” (place-holder names for the tree-sitters in Winnsboro that TransCanada has yet to identify), Eleanor Fairchild, and Tar Sands Blockade spokesman Ron Seifert. It does not name actress Daryl Hannah who was arrested with Fairchild, however, because according to TransCanada spokesperson David Dodson, “she's not a local... Her chance of returning to the scene and doing it again is not such that filing a T.R.O. against her would not be useful.”

Timeline
This timeline includes actions that have been organized by the Tar Sands Blockade up to November 13th, 2012 but does not include solidarity actions in other places by other groups.


 * August 16th, 2012: protesters unfurled banners at equipment storage sites in Cushing, Oklahoma and Lamar County, Texas.


 * August 28th: seven protesters were arrested for trespassing at a construction site in Livingston, Texas, four of whom had locked themselves to the bottom of a truck.


 * September 5th: five activists entered a construction site in Hopkins County, Texas, and three of them locked themselves to machinery.  No arrests were made.


 * September 19th: five protesters were arrested for criminal trespass at a Keystone XL construction site in Franklin County, Texas, three who locked themselves to construction equipment and two who stood nearby.


 * September 24th: the Tar Sands Blockade's longest tree sit began in Winnsboro, Texas.


 * September 25th: Texan protesters Shannon Bebe and Benjamin Franklin were arrested for locking arms around construction machinery in Winnsboro, Texas.


 * October 1st: Houston resident Alejandro de la Torre was arrested for obstructing a passageway at a construction easement in Winnsboro, Texas by attaching his arm to an object below the ground.


 * October 2nd: lifelong Texan Maggie Gorry climbed a 40ft pole erected adjacent to the tree sit, delaying construction, and stayed there for two days.  She was arrested immediately upon returning to the ground on October 3rd.


 * October 4th: Texan landowner Eleanor Fairchild and Hollywood actress Daryl Hannah were arrested for standing in front of construction equipment, in Winnsboro, Texas, blocking it.  They were charged with trespassing on land owned by Fairchild herself but expropriated by TransCanada via eminent domain law for construction purposes.


 * October 11th: lifelong Texan going by the alias “Kevin Redding” began a tree sit at the West End Nature Preserve outside Mt. Vernon, Texas, where TransCanada had announced plans to cut trees.


 * October 15th: over 50 protesters walked into the Winnsboro construction site where the tree sit was located in an effort to resupply the tree-sitters with food and water.  About 10 were arrested.


 * October 24th: Cherri Foytlin, mother of six, chained herself to the gates of a pipeyard in Titus County, Texas, blocking vehicles from entering or exiting until her removal and arrest later that day.


 * October 30th: two women from New England tree-sat at a construction site in Sacul, Texas;  Jill Stein was arrested while delivering supplies to tree sitters at the tree village in Winnsboro.